Here’s a wee chuckle for ye:

Looking ahead to COP19 at (Warsaw) and future international climate negotiations:

2013/10/25: RTCC: Figueres: IPCC’s ‘carbon budget’ will not drive Warsaw talks
The UN climate change chief says it would be too ‘politically difficult’ to negotiate national allocations of carbon emissions A key finding of the UN climate panel’s latest report on climate change is too politically “difficult” to drive international climate talks in November, according to the UN’s climate chief.

Apparently there was a Montreal Protocol meeting in Bangkok this week:

2013/10/24: RTCC: India and US HFC row brews at UN talks in Bangkok
India is blocking a US proposal to curb the use of a potent greenhouse gas under the Montreal Protocol India has blocked attempts to curb the use of the highly polluting chemicals used in refrigeration this week, in a move which places them on collision course with the US.
[…]
In meetings to discuss the Montreal Protocol this week, the US suggested that HFCs be monitored under the agreement, as they are a direct replacement for the previous ozone damaging chemicals. But India objected to the amendment, citing the fact that because it is not harmful to the ozone layer, its regulation ought to remain under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol.

The Post-AR5 discussions and analysis continue:

Another election day is set in the Maldives:

2013/10/26: Xinhuanet: News Analysis: Political infighting in Maldives could lead to constitutional crisis
Colombo — Political infighting has brought the idyllic Maldives islands into a tenuous state with barely two weeks to elect a new president and avoid a constitutional crisis but there is little sign that the various parties will reach a compromise. Tangles of the Maldivian political system have already derailed two attempts to have presidential elections with the third scheduled on Nov. 9 but front-runner former Maldives President Mohammad Nasheed has already said that he has no faith in the process. If a new president is not sworn in by Nov. 11 as specified in the Maldives Constitution, it will lead to a void where the Speaker of Parliament will take over and oversee the transition of power. However, this process is dependent on the Supreme Court, which is largely seen as lacking independence, and could issue contrary orders.

2013/10/22: EurActiv: Global climate investment flatlines
The world invested almost a billion dollars a day in limiting global warming last year, but the total figure – $359 billion – was slightly down on last year, and barely half the $700 billion per year that the World Economic Forum has said is needed to tackle climate change.

So, If we put a price on nature, will it deal with externalities and lead to greater conservation
or will it lead to greater exploitation or what?

2013/10/21: ABC(Au): Putting a price on Australia’s groundwater
Australia’s groundwater is worth $34 billion, according to The National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training. The centre has commissioned a report which looks at the industries like mining and farming which are dependent on groundwater, which comes from aquifers and bores.

Various psychological angles arise in considerations of the ecological crisis:

It is evident that the Fukushima disaster is going to persist for some time. TEPCO says 6 to 9 months. The previous Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, said decades. Now the Japanese government is talking about 30 years. [Whoops, that has now been updated to 40 years.]
And the IAEA is now saying 40 years too.
[Now some people are talking about a century or more. Sealing it in concrete for 500 years.]
We’ll see.
At any rate this situation is not going to be resolved any time soon and deserves its own section.
Meanwhile…
It is very difficult to know for sure what is really going on at Fukushima. Between the company [TEPCO], the Japanese government, the Japanese regulator [NISA], the international monitor [IAEA], as well as independent analysts and commentators, there is a confusing mish-mash of information. One has to evaluate both the content and the source of propagated information.
How knowledgeable are they [about nuclear power and about Japan]?
Do they have an agenda?
Are they pro-nuclear or anti-nuclear?
Do they want to write a good news story?
Do they want to write a bad news story?
Where do they rate on a scale of sensationalism?
Where do they rate on a scale of play-it-down-ness?
One fundamental question I would like to see answered:
If the reactors are in meltdown, how can they be in cold shutdown?

2013/10/25: BBC: Small tsunami reaches Japan after earthquake
A small tsunami triggered by a quake has hit Japan’s eastern coast – where the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is located – but no damage is reported. The 30cm (1ft) waves reached the region after the 7.1 magnitude tremor struck at a depth of 10km (six miles), about 320km off the coast.

2013/10/25: RT: Fuk-‘hush’-ima: Japan’s new state secrets law gags whistleblowers, raises press freedom fears
Many issues of national importance to Japan, probably including the state of the Fukushima power plant, may be designated state secrets under a new draft law. Once signed, it could see whistleblowers jailed for up to 10 years. Japan has relatively lenient penalties for exposing state secrets compared to many other nations, but that may change with the introduction of the new law. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government has agreed on draft legislation on the issue on Friday and expects the parliament to vote on it during the current session, which ends on December 6.

2013/10/23: ABC(Au): Meeting to decide the fate of pristine Antarctic areas
A meeting in Hobart is considering the creation of a series of marine protected areas to the east of Antarctica. Members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) will spend the next nine days discussing the plan. More than 300 scientists and CCAMLR delegates from 24 countries and the European Union are attending the meeting.

2013/10/26: WSWS: US food stamp assistance to be slashed next week
Benefit payments from the US government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), better known as food stamps, will be slashed drastically on November 1, the first across-the-board cut in food stamp benefits in US history. The cuts will amount to $5 billion per year, and a total of $11 billion through 2016. The average household of three will receive a benefit cut of $29 a month, or $319 per year.

2013/10/22: WSWS: Australia: Escalating need for food handouts
The past year saw a near 10 percent increase in the number of Australians seeking food from the country’s largest provider of food assistance, according to a recent report. Foodbank provides food via charities to more than 473,000 people per month, but a further 65,000 people, including 30,000 children, are turned away each month despite their need. The figures are symptomatic of worsening social hardship in the working class, a product of growing unemployment and underemployment, deep welfare cuts and cost-of-living increases.

2013/10/20: CDreams: Food Stamp Corporate Welfare
If you think the SNAP food stamps debate is about poor people’s need to eat, you’re wrong. It’s about big corporations’ need to profit. “Xerox, JPMorgan Chase and eFunds Corporation have all successfully turned poverty into a profit center.” So have Coca Cola, Kroger, Wal-Mart, Kelloggs and a large slice of the rest of the Fortune 500 corporations.

As for the Monsoon:

2013/10/26: CNN: Floods kill dozens in eastern India
“The entire Delta area is completely inundated,” an official says – Flooding led to the cancellation of a cricket match between India and Australia – Ganjam District was most heavily affected, with 85,000 people evacuated

This week in the New Normal — extreme weather:

2013/10/21: ERW: Insight: ‘paired’ climate extremes are increasing
Rising global temperatures and changing precipitation patterns can produce heat waves, floods and droughts. To understand these hazards better, researchers are beginning to examine the relationship between temperature and precipitation extremes. The results of such a study have been published in Environmental Research Letters (ERL).

What’s new in proxies?

2013/10/25: Eureka: Reading ancient climate from plankton shells
Climate changes from millions of years ago are recorded at daily rate in ancient sea shells, new research shows. A huge X-ray microscope has revealed growth bands in plankton shells that show how shell chemistry records the sea temperature. The results could allow scientists to chart short timescale changes in ocean temperatures hundreds of millions of years ago. Plankton shells show features like tree rings, recording historical climate.

2013/10/23: ABC(Au): Climate outlook indicates drier summer
It could be a busy start to summer for the state’s firefighters with the latest seasonal outlook showing up to a 70 per cent chance of below average rain over most of Queensland and the Northern Territory. Senior forecaster Matthew Bass says Arnhem Land and Queensland’s interior have the highest odds of being dry.

2013/10/22: CNN: ‘As bad as it gets': Australia braces for worst of wildfires
A line of wildfires nearly 1,000 miles long threatens the state of New South Wales, Australia – High winds and temperatures threaten to make Wednesday the worst day for the blazes – More than 200 homes in the Blue Mountains region west of Sydney have been destroyed – Fire commissioner: Conditions Wednesday expected to be “about as bad as it gets”

2013/10/21: ABC(Au): Fires continue to threaten NSW homes
There are still more than 60 fires burning in New South Wales. Firefighters are dealing with several emergencies as fires bear down on communities in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. At the same time thousands of firefighters are preparing for worsening conditions later in the week. People in some Blue Mountains communities were advised to leave their homes this afternoon. In other parts of the Blue Mountains residents have been told to shelter in their homes as fires threaten properties. The commissioner of the Rural Fire Service, Shane Fitzsimmons, says this is just the beginning.

Sea levels are rising:

These extreme rainfall events are becoming all too frequent:

2013/10/23: al Jazeera: Torrential rain pours across Fiji
Torrential rain has poured across Fiji over the past few days and the amounts of rain have been phenomenal. A staggering 451mm of rain was reported on the island of Vanua Balavu in just two days, but this paled into insignificance when compared to elsewhere. Udu Point on Vanua Levu, the second largest island in the archipelago, reported an eye-watering 1007mm of rain in the same time period.

2013/10/23: BBC: GDF Suez buys £24m stake in UK shale gas projects
French utility firm GDF Suez has signed a deal with UK-based Dart Energy to explore Cheshire and the East Midlands for shale gas. GDF Suez will buy a 25% share in Dart’s 13 onshore licences for £7.4m ($12m), followed by £16.7m for ongoing costs. The licences overlay the Bowland Shale area, estimated to contain 1,300 trillion cubic feet of shale gas. The company said several wells will be drilled in the 1,378 sq km (532 sq miles) area, if the government allows.

2013/10/21: BBC: Npower to raise energy prices by 10.4%
Energy firm Npower has become the third major supplier to announce price rises, with a dual-fuel bill to go up 10.4%. The price rise will take effect on 1 December, and is the highest increase announced by any supplier so far. SSE will increase prices by 8.2% from 15 November and British Gas said prices would go up by 9.2% on 23 November. The Npower increase includes an electricity price rise of 9.3% and a gas price rise of 11.1%. The move will affect 3.1 million customers.

2013/10/23: EurActiv: Leaked memo threatens ‘end of European conservation as we know it’
A non-descript memo to the EU’s climate commissioner from her director-general could spell the end of attempts to conserve natural habitats through hundreds of small-scale projects across Europe, campaigners say. The memo, which EurActiv has seen, proposes ending funding for local climate-related projects from an E864 million environmental protection programme called Life, and using the lion’s share of it as public seed money to leverage private sector cash instead.

2013/10/23: ABC(Au): Fears Queensland’s severe drought will lead to more farmer suicides
There are fears that Queensland’s severe drought could trigger even more suicides by farmers. A new study has found 147 farmers committed suicide in Queensland in the decade after the 2000, compared to 92 in New South Wales. Researchers say the number of suicides in NSW could be even higher, but it is harder to define because of the way the statistics are gathered.

2013/10/22: WSWS: Australia: Escalating need for food handouts
The past year saw a near 10 percent increase in the number of Australians seeking food from the country’s largest provider of food assistance, according to a recent report. Foodbank provides food via charities to more than 473,000 people per month, but a further 65,000 people, including 30,000 children, are turned away each month despite their need. The figures are symptomatic of worsening social hardship in the working class, a product of growing unemployment and underemployment, deep welfare cuts and cost-of-living increases.

2013/10/24: ABC(Au): First step to mining tax end
The Abbott Government is taking the first step towards abolishing the mining tax. It’s released draft legislation to have the tax repealed from July next year and when it goes, so will $13 billion in sweeteners, including the Schoolkids Bonus and the low income superannuation contribution.

2013/10/24: ABC(Au): Mount Isa may face tougher water bans
The Mount Isa City Council says an average of eight people every day are being fined for flouting water restrictions. The city is drought declared and under level two water restrictions, meaning sprinklers can only be used to water gardens during two hours – morning and night on alternative days. The city’s main water source, Lake Moondarra, is sitting at 30 per cent capacity, while the back-up dam, Lake Julius, is now under 70 per cent. Mayor Tony McGrady says people will be fined if they do not abide by the rules and more people are also reporting residents who are not doing the right thing.

While in Japan:

2013/10/25: Asia Times: Abenomics and the climate challenge
An important and little noted component of Abenomics, Japan’s information and communications technology (ICT) growth strategy propounded on June 14, ostensibly aims at the evolution of a new model of efficient, resilient and green urban and rural infrastructures.
[…]
At this critical juncture, for Japan to choose restarts, let alone more nuclear build, would likely see it evolve into a high cost, uncompetitive and environmentally unsustainable Galapagos. It would undermine its incentives to move ahead in renewables and efficiency.
But were Japan to choose radical efficiency and renewables, with its ambitious ICT growth strategy at the core, and coordinated by a focused cabinet and prime minister, it could become the model for a sustainable and resilient 21st-century urban and rural economy.
We have seen that Japan itself is threatened by climate change, along with its region overall, so building resilience into all infrastructures is truly in its own existential self-interest as well as its enlightened self-interest as an exporter.
This argument has not yet gained the status of common sense in the overall policy debate, but Koizumi’s interventions suggest it is much closer to gaining that position than the nuclear-centered power economy. The nuclear-centered power economy was the reigning common sense of just a few years ago, but its apparent decline suggests how rapidly the structure of incentives and ideas can shift. Can Abenomics recognize this reality and effectively address the real challenge of climate change that threatens Japan and the world?

2013/10/21: BBC: Brazil troops deployed ahead of Rio oil field auction
The Brazilian government has begun deploying troops on the streets of Rio de Janeiro ahead of a major auction for oil exploration rights. Some 1,100 soldiers sealed off the seafront hotel, where the auction of the huge offshore Libra field is due to take place on Monday. President Dilma Rousseff ordered tighter security after violent demonstrations in Rio last week.

In Canada, neocon PM Harper, aka The Blight, pushes petroleum while ignoring the climate and ecology:

The muzzling of Canada’s scientists has now been documented:

2013/10/21: CBC: Muzzling of federal scientists widespread, survey suggests
4,000 responded to survey commissioned by PIPSC to gauge political interference in science Hundreds of federal scientists responding to a survey said they had been asked to exclude or alter information for non-scientific reasons and thousands said they had been prevented from speaking to the media. The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), which commissioned the survey from Environics Research “to gauge the scale and impact of ‘muzzling’ and political interference among federal scientists,” released the results Monday at a news conference. The union sent invitations to 15,398 federal scientists in June, asking them to participate in the survey. More than 4,000 took part.

Environment Canada released its yearly GHG emissions report this week. It’s not very good:

2013/10/25: Xinhuanet: Canada falls behind greenhouse gas emissions target
Ottawa — Canada is falling behind in meeting its 2020 target for the greenhouse gas emission reductions under the Copenhagen Accord, a report said Thursday. Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions are expected to reach 734 megatons in 2020, only three megatons less than the 2005 level, according to the 77-page Canada’s Emissions Trends report released by Environment Canada.

2013/10/24: CBC: Canada failing to meet 2020 emissions targets
Canada will fail to meet its 2020 greenhouse gas reductions targets under the Copenhagen Accord even with more regulation of the oil and gas sector, according to a new report and internal government analysis obtained by CBC News. A report released today titled Canada’s Emissions Trends shows projections to 2020 with a significant and growing gap for targets even under variable economic growth and energy resource development scenarios.

And in one of those late Friday afternoon sneak releases, the Harper gang let slip their new tar sand rules:

2013/10/25: CBC: New environmental review rules anger oilsands critics — Government unveils changes to review requirements
Many oilsands projects will not have their potential environmental impacts reviewed by the federal government under updated rules announced today, environmentalists warn. The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency released lists Friday outlining changes to the types of resource development and infrastructure projects that will routinely require a federal environmental assessment. The federal review is intended to look at possible environmental impacts under federal jurisdiction, such as impacts on waterways or greenhouse gas emissions. One concern that environmentalists have with the new rules is they won’t require environmental reviews for a growing type of oilsands development.

2013/10/25: BBerg: Fastest-Growing Emissions Source Won’t Get Canada Review
Oil-sands projects that use methods such as underground steam injection rather than open-pit mining to extract bitumen will be excluded from mandatory environmental reviews by the Canadian government under proposed regulations. Projects that use so-called in-situ methods, Canada’s fastest-growing source of climate-warming emissions, aren’t listed on an amendment to a law regarding approvals by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency. Environment Canada predicts emissions from in-situ projects, including those using steam to melt bitumen, will rise 44 percent by 2020 from 2005.

Also in Alberta:

2013/10/26: CBC: Wildrose Party promises big policy changes at AGM
500 delegates expected in Red Deer to address policies such as climate change, human rights commission The Wildrose Party is promising big changes as party members gather for its annual general meeting in Red Deer, Alta., this weekend.
[…]
Smith says she now believes climate change exists and that mankind is at least partially to blame. “I accept that climate change is a reality, as do our members. I accept that there’s a human influence on it,” Smith told reporters. “I leave the debate about the details to the science about what extent it is and how fast it is occurring.”

2013/10/22: CBC: Edmonton-sized wildfire burning under Dehcho, N.W.T.
Two large wildfires that started this summer are still burning and likely will continue to burn under cover of snow and ice through this coming winter, officials in the N.W.T. said Tuesday. The fires, both in the Dehcho region of the Northwest Territories, are burning underground, burning up roots and other flammable material.

2013/10/20: CDreams: Food Stamp Corporate Welfare
If you think the SNAP food stamps debate is about poor people’s need to eat, you’re wrong. It’s about big corporations’ need to profit. “Xerox, JPMorgan Chase and eFunds Corporation have all successfully turned poverty into a profit center.” So have Coca Cola, Kroger, Wal-Mart, Kelloggs and a large slice of the rest of the Fortune 500 corporations.

Please adjust your rose coloured glasses as necessary:

Why we fight:

2013/10/23: Resilience: Comes a Fight
Here is a fact that most well-meaning citizens simply don’t want to face: There is an epic, inescapable, high stakes battle brewing in our society. History has handed us a job to do that will require a whole new word for courage before we are done.

2013/10/21: BBC: Wikipedia probe into paid-for ‘sockpuppet’ entries
Wikipedia editors have expressed “shock and dismay” at the discovery of hundreds of user accounts set up to make paid-for entries. Paid-for advocacy and the adoption of fake “sockpuppet” identities for promotional purposes are against the free web encyclopaedia’s policies. Sue Gardner, executive editor of the Wikimedia Foundation, said “as many as several hundred” accounts were suspect.

2013/10/23: BBerg: Canada Rail Stocks Reach Record as Profits Beat Estimates
Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP) and larger rival Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR) surged to record highs after the companies reported third-quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates.
[…]
Both companies benefited from growing demand to haul crude oil while bolstering operating ratio, a costs-to-revenue measure of railroad efficiency. After Canadian National yesterday reported a 17 percent increase in petroleum and chemicals sales, Canadian Pacific posted the same gain in industrials and consumer products revenue, which includes crude shipments.

2013/10/22: CSM: Train vs. pipeline: What’s the safest way to transport oil?
[…]
The public debate about the trade-offs between rail and pipeline transportation is relatively new. However, most evidence thus far has found that pipelines are safer but have a higher leak-rate than rail. On top of the safety record, one must also consider the cost differential between the two transportation methods — it costs about $7 to transport a barrel of oil from Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast by pipeline compared to between $15.50 and $31 for the same trip by rail.

Nuclear waste storage requires _very_ long term thinking:

2013/10/25: BBerg: Illinois Biggest Atomic Dump as U.S. Fails to Pick Site
U.S. lawmakers have debated for decades where to put all the spent fuel generated by the nation’s nuclear power plants.
[…]
Across the country, atomic power plants “have become de facto major radioactive waste-management operations,” [said] Robert Alvarez, a former adviser to Energy Department secretaries…

More people are talking about the electrical grid:

How are the utilities adjusting (or not)?

2013/10/25: CleanTechnica: Australian Utilities Erect Barricades In Bid To Halt Solar Storm
Australia’s major electricity utilities are acting to brake or even halt the rapid uptake of solar PV — pushing for higher network charges, refusing connections and downsizing rooftop proposals, as well as removing discounts and forcing tariff changes on solar consumers. The push to contain the rush for solar PV – which is occurring even after most subsidies have been removed — comes as major generators, network operators and electricity retailers admit that solar PV is upsetting their decades-old business model — which is based on a high-volume, low margin business that relies on continued growth.

A Simple Plea

Webmasters, web coders and content providers have mercy on your low bandwidth brethren. Because I am on dial-up, I am a text surfer — no images, no javascript and no flash. When you post a graphic, will you please use the alt text field … and when you embed a youtube/vimeo/flash video, please add some minimal description. Thank you.

<regards>

-het

P.S. Recent postings can be found in the week archive and the ancient postings can be accessed here, which should open to this.